Results of Steroid Testing Spur Baseball to Set Tougher Rules

By JACK CURRY and JERE LONGMAN

Published: November 14, 2003

PHOENIX, Nov. 13—
Major League Baseball, which has labored for several seasons under suspicion that some of its star players were using steroids, said Thursday that in the first year of testing for steroids more than 5 percent of players' tests were positive. As a result, stricter testing standards will go into effect next year.

From 5 to 7 percent of the 1,438 random, anonymous tests of players on major league teams' 40-man rosters this year were positive, baseball said, triggering testing for the 2004 season that could result in penalties against players. The players would also be identified publicly.

Though the number of positive tests ranged from 70 to 100, it was unclear how many players tested positive. Of the 1,438 tests, 240 were repeat tests, and so some players may have tested positive twice.

The steroid issue has intensified for baseball since two former Most Valuable Players, Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco, said in 2002 that they used them and that many other players did, too. More muscle-bound players and an explosion in performance by hitters added to the suspicion that some players might be using performance-enhancing drugs.

Baseball's team owners began a push for testing, but the players' union was reluctant before agreeing to the program last year, when a new labor contract was signed.

''Hopefully, this will, over time, allow us to completely eradicate the use of performance enhancement substances in baseball,'' Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

But Dr. Gary I. Wadler, a professor of medicine at New York University who is an expert on performance-enhancing drugs, noted that if the 70 to 100 positive tests were grouped together, they would exceed the number of players on the 40-man roster of any of baseball's 30 teams. This seems to indicate that steroid use was widespread, he said, calling into question the legitimacy of baseball players' recent achievements.

''That's really a very sorry day for baseball,'' Dr. Wadler said.

As part of the labor agreement concluded last year, which included the ban on steroids, baseball and the players' union agreed to the anonymous testing for 2003. Because the positive test results exceeded the 5 percent threshold, the agreement calls for all players to undergo stricter testing starting on March 2, 2004. If the number had been less than 5 percent, the same survey testing would have been repeated next year.

Until agreeing to testing last year, the players union had been opposed to it on the grounds that it infringed on players' privacy rights.

The new testing plan will be in effect for 2004 and 2005. Unless the combined positive rate is less than 2.5 percent in those years, it will also be in place in 2006.

The announcement comes at a time when two of baseball's biggest stars, Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, have been called to testify before a federal grand jury in California in the investigation of a company suspected of making steroids. Bonds and Giambi have said they received only nutritional supplements from the company.

Beginning next season, the first time a player tests positive he will receive treatment and education about the substance that was abused and be subject to further testing. A second positive will result in the player's being identified publicly and include a 15-day suspension or up to a $10,000 fine. The penalties escalate to a one-year suspension or up to a $100,000 fine for the fifth positive test. Suspensions will be without pay.

''If it's something that will ultimately make the problem go away or speculation of a problem go away, then what's wrong with that?'' said Mets pitcher Tom Glavine, the National Leaguers' representative during the negotiations last year.

Players had no specific knowledge of when they would be tested, but they knew since the collective bargaining agreement was reached on Sept. 30, 2002, that tests would be administered at some point this season. Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, said it probably surprised him that players tested positive despite having at least four months' advance knowledge that testing was imminent.

''It's good that there's been some attention to it,'' he said. ''Both sides have agreed there should be attention paid. This is the result of it.''

The tests were conducted in two phases, with 1,198 players on the 40-man major league rosters being tested at unscheduled times beginning in spring training and continuing throughout the season. In addition, 240 players were randomly selected and tested a second time. Baseball wanted all players to think there was a chance they would be tested a second time and hoped the testing itself would deter steroid use.

''A positive rate of 5 percent is hardly the sign that you have rampant use of anything,'' said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for labor relations. ''From our perspective, it's still a problem. We'd like it to be at zero.''

Gene Orza, the associate general counsel of the players' union, calculated that between 42 and 83 players had tested positive. When asked about the fact that players knew the tests were coming and some still tested positive, Mr. Orza said: ''We should assume 83 would have been 790 without the program? That's a pretty good program.''